Line tightener



vAllg- 8, 1939. M. JACOB ET A1. 2,168,954

' LINE TIGHTENER Filed NOV. 29, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l ?21 vewfars Azdfew 676x605, 7b 6 fl'l va* ZZL'/ 5| 2 jw f:

3/ /5 ATTORNEY L 2f Aug. s, 1939.

M. JACOB El' AL LINE TIGHTENER Filed Nov. 29, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IZ-21 predator-s' M'Ze cqaa Z, A zedze w 'Jaz co5,

ce/aza vez Z242, BY f L i L TTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFDCE.

LINE TIGHTENER Application November Z9, 1937, Serial No. 177,162

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in line stretchers, and more particularly to a clothes line stretcher, which will be attached to one support, and adapted to be connected with a clothes line whose opposite end is fixed to a second support,

whereby the line may be manually lowered to place clothes thereon to dry, or to remove the clothes, doing away with the necessity of any form of intermediate line props.

An object of our invention is to provide an improved line stretcher, which will be so constructed and arranged that it may be placed in any desired position, and provided with braking and clutch mechanisms which will obviate the necessity of line props, and which will prevent the accidental dropping of a clothes line with the clothes thereon, thereby saving the rewashing and drying of the clothes.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved line stretcher which will be highly eicient in use, and quite inexpensive to manufacture, and which may be used in any place where line stretching is required, or may be used as a hoist, and for many other purposes.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of our application,

Figure l is a general side elevation of our invention showing the same used in connection with a clothes line;

Figure 2 is a front face elevation of our invention;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of our invention;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view of the lower portion of our improved line stretcher with the casing for the same removed;

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a sectional View taken on the line "I-l of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 5;

Figure 9 is a detail view of the clutch mechanism showing the latch or pawl in raised position out of the path of the gear or ratchet wheel.

Like characters of reference are used through out the following specication and the accom'- panying drawings to designate corresponding parts.

In carrying out our invention, we provide a suitable elongated housing I, which will house the operating mechanism of our line tightener,

and which will have suitable attaching means such as the bolts 2, for securing the tightener to a supporting standard 3, which will be suitably embedded in the ground, and between which and another similar standard 4, a clothes line 5 will 5 be extended. However, it will be understood that the tightener may be attached to any support, and will have many uses, as for example, when secured to a tripod, when the same may be used as a hoist, or for fence line stretching, etc. l0

The casing I will-be provided with an offset portion 6 at its upper end, which portion will be provided with an opening or slot "i, for the flexible belt or strap 8 to pass through. A suitn able ring or attaching means 9 will be secured l5 to the free end of the belt or strap S, and the end of a clothes line may be secured thereto. A guide roller I0 will be mounted transversely across the upper end of the casing I, adjacent the oiset portion I, and the belt 8 will be guided around 20 the same and downwardly to the operating mechanism located at the lower end of the said casm ing I. The operating mechanism will comprise a transversely mounted shaft II to which the reel I2 is secured, the opposite end of the belt 8 25 being attached thereto. If desired, one or more guide rollers (not shown) may be placed at points in the casing I between its opposite ends. A brake drum I3 will be secured to one side of the reel i2, and will cooperate with an adjustable 30 brake band I4, provided with adjusting means l5 and I6 at its opposite ends. A bell-crank lever I'I will connect the band adjusting and operating means IB, with the pivoted operating lever I8 extending through the lower end of the said cas- 35 ing I,'whereby movement of the handle or lever I8 in one direction will apply the brake to the drum and reel, and movement oi the handle in the opposite direction will release the brake.

At the opposite end of the reel I2, we have 40 provided a toothed wheel I9 which is also mounted on the shaft II and is movable with the reel I2. A pivoted pawl or dog 20 is normally pulled into engagement with the teeth on the wheel I9, by the action of the spring 2I. Also a spring 33 45 normally holds the brake operating mechanism in released position. A rotatably mounted rod 22 is mounted in the bearing 23, and carries the cam 24 at its upper end, which may be swung into and out of engagement with the pawl 26], by 50 means of the handle 25 extending outwardly from the casing I, and which is secured to the lower end of the rod 22. It will be apparent that when the handle 25 is moved in one direction, the pawl 2|] will engage the wheel I9, or 55 rather the teeth on the periphery thereof, to lock the reel I2 from rotation. When the handle 25 is moved in the opposite direction, the pawl 20 will be released from the teeth in the wheel I9, and the reel I2 may be moved in either direction.

A crank 26 will be provided for positioning over the outer end of the shaft Il, said crank being formed with a locking ear 21, for engagement with the pin 28 on the shaft Il when the crank is moved in a clockwise direction, but upon moving the crank in the opposite direction, no motion will be transmitted to the said shaft H. A spring 29 will be positioned over the shaft Il between the crank 26 and the adjacent enlarged portion of the said shaft. A suitable nut 3U will hold the crank on the shaft and a pin 3| Will hold the nut from accidental unscrewing from the shaft.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the mode of operation is as follows: Assuming that the stretching device was in position as illustrated in Figure 1, and clothes to dry were on the line, it would only be necessary to release the pawl from the toothed wheel by movement of the cam operating member, and the weight of the clothes would pull out on the belt unrolling the same from the freely movable reel, and by applying the brake, the dropping of the clothes line may be effected as desired. When the line is in the desired lowered position, the brake will be applied and the locking pawl thrown into engagement with the toothed wheel, whereupon further movement of the clothes line will be prevented. When it is desired to pull the clothes line taut, it is only necessary to turn the locking pawl into engagement with the toothed wheel,

and turn the crank until all slack is taken up. Backward movement of the reel is prevented by the pawl being in engagement with the toothed wheel. It will be understood that the belt may be made of any suitable or desired material, either solid or woven material. A cover 32 will be provided for keeping the weather from the operating mechanism, and will be held in place by the side notches as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

Many minor changes in detail of construction may be resorted to without departure from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent of the United States is:

In a line stretcher, the combination o1 a casing, a shaft mounted for rotation in said casing, a strap mounted on said shaft, a brake drum mounted on the shaft at one side of the drum, a toothed wheel mounted on the shaft at the opposite side i of the drum, a brake band for said brake drum, means for operating said brake band, a pivoted pawl resiliently engaging said toothed wheel for normally permitting one-way rotation of said drum, means for disengaging said pawl from said toothed wheel, a crank loosely mounted on said shaft, a pin on said shaft extending radially therefrom, resilient means about said shaft for forcing said crank away from said pin, and means on said crank for engaging said pin whereby rotation cf the crank will rotate the shaft and the elements mounted upon it.

MIKE JACOB. ANDREW JACOB. JOE MARAVALLI. 

